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A traditional Nigerian wedding held at Porchester Hall pictured in
Channel 5 documentary Eamonn & Ruth: How The Other Half Lives |
According to the publication
Every bride wants to look a million dollars when they tie the knot – and affluent women from Nigeria are spending just that to achieve it on their big days.
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Ruth Langsford meets Elizabeth Aisien, centre, who says it isn't unusual for wealthy Nigerians to spend £1m on their wedding day |
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A model tries on a Vera Wang wedding gown worth £100,000, such dresses are in demand with Nigerian brides |
In-demand event maestro CEO and founder of Prive Luxury Events Elizabeth Aisien says London has become the destination of choice for Africa’s wealthy elite when they tie the knot.
‘It’s a competition, people want something like “wow, she arrived by plane”. The bride wants to look good and wear the best of everything.’
As a result, she said brides will pay around £100,000 for a bespoke dress by a designer like Vera Wang and £475,000 on diamond jewellery.
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Ruth visits a Vera Wang shop with wedding planner Elizabeth Aisien, far
left. While there, a jeweller, second from left, brings diamond
earrings, pictured front right, for Elizabeth to chose on behalf of her
rich client |
‘The other women want to make a statement, “I wore this diamond, my diamond is bigger than yours”,’ Elizabeth explained.
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The luxurious Dorchester hotel is a popular wedding venue for affulent Nigerian couples |
She added that the venues of choice for weddings and receptions are up-market London hotels including The Dorcester, The Landmark Hotel and Claridges.
She added: ‘Kensington Palace is another favourite for Nigerians now.’
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The Landmark Hotel in London is another popular wedding venue for uber-rich couples |
According to the Historic Royal Palaces, prices for weddings at the Palace start from £12,500 exclusive of catering and VAT.
Elizabeth said after forking out to look her best, a bride will then spend a fortune wining and dining her guests – all three thousand of them.
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She explained: ‘They will spend the most money on Champagne as you have two to three thousand guests at a traditional Nigerian wedding and they will get a bottle of Champagne each.’
This means at an average Nigerian wedding, £150,000 will be spent on booze.
And it’s not just food and drink lavished on the guests. While at British weddings, attendees may get a token favour like a chocolate, at affluent Nigerian weddings, they will get a gift bag worth thousands.
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A bride is pictured walking up the aisle on the show, as wedding planner Elizabeth reveals it's all about making a statement of wealth |
Such a bag might contain a £345 perfume, a cashmere scarf worth £350 and a £5,000 watch.
With such luxuries being given out at weddings, it is perhaps no surprise that according to Tatler, every third pound currently spent in Harrods is by a Nigerian.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy as the Niger Delta region in the south holds some of the world’s richest oil reserves. A recent world wealth study found the number of millionaires in Nigeria has risen about 305 percent since 2000.
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